Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to dental tools for fitting artificial crowns.
Description of the Related Art
An artificial dental crown is a typically metal or porcelain device that is placed over a tooth to replace portions of the tooth which have been removed due to decay or damage. Restoring a tooth with a dental crown typically includes several steps: tooth preparation, crown fabrication, and crown fitting and installation. Tooth preparation involves reshaping the tooth (i.e., through filing) so that it is the proper size and shape for receiving a crown. Impressions are then made of the prepared tooth and the adjacent teeth, and teeth above or below the prepared tooth. These impressions are sent to a laboratory which uses them to fabricate the artificial crown. The crown is then fitted and installed during a subsequent visit to the dentist.
During the fitting and installation process, the crown often needs to be adjusted (by grinding and polishing) before it can be permanently affixed to the prepared tooth. The crown may not have a perfect fit due to errors in the fabrication process, or because the patient's teeth may have moved slightly after the impressions for the crown were made. Since it is usually easier and less expensive to correct a crown that is too large than too small, artificial crowns are often intentionally designed to have interproximal contacts (the contacts between the crown and the adjacent teeth) that are slightly tighter than necessary. The tight contacts are then corrected by grinding and polishing until the crown will fit in proper contact with the adjacent teeth.
Fitting the crown typically includes inserting the crown in place over the prepared tooth, observing and/or marking where the crown is too tight, removing the crown, and grinding it with a polishing wheel where needed. These steps are repeated until the crown is the proper size. Determining exactly where the crown needs to be adjusted is often a difficult and uncomfortable process due to the limited space (inside the mouth) within which the dentist has to work, the angle of the teeth, and the lack of tools that can easily mark the locations of the interproximal contacts on the crown. One prior method for marking the interproximal contacts is to insert a thin marking ribbon coated with carbon or dye between the crown and adjacent tooth and removing the ribbon such that a small mark or residue is left on the crown at contact points between the crown and adjacent tooth. These marking ribbons, however, tend to be cumbersome to use and difficult to properly place and remove.
Hence, a need exists in the art for an improved system or method for marking an artificial dental crown that is easier and less cumbersome than prior approaches.